The restaurant owned by Portland mayoral candidate Sho Dozono has not paid rent and property taxes in months on space it leases from the city and owes Portland more than $18,000.

Dozono is best known for running Azumano Travel. But he is also president and majority owner of Bush Garden, a Japanese restaurant that leases space in the city's 10th Avenue and Yamhill Street parking garage downtown.

The city aims to redevelop that garage, so it renegotiated with tenants early last year and cut their rent, said Diana Holuka, who manages properties for Portland. Bush Garden's rent was cut by more than half, from $6,032.46 a month to $3,000 a month, starting in January 2007, Holuka said. Bush Garden wanted to sign a long-term contract then, but the city declined because of the redevelopment, so the lease was extended a year, then month-to-month since this January.

Bush Garden did not pay rent for March or April, Holuka said. All rents are due on the first of the month and are "delinquent on the 11th," she said. The restaurant also did not pay its required share of property taxes or "common-area fees" for February, March or April, she said. In total, the restaurant owes the city $18,404.25.

Dozono said he recently found out about the back rent, and asked other Bush Garden officials to negotiate the issue with the city. It's been rough making money because of nearby construction projects, including work that recently closed the street in front of the restaurant, he said. Since the city permitted the street closures, and runs the building, he feels his landlord is responsible for some of his business problems.

"If you had a business, and your landlord closed the street in front of your business, would you happily pay rent? Or would you negotiate?" he said.

Different city bureaus run the garage and grant permits for construction and street closures. But Dozono said "the city is ultimately the entity that controls both."

Bush Garden's managers want to negotiate to rent less space, perhaps just enough to run a sushi counter, until the construction is done and the garage's future plans are set, Dozono said. But if the city isn't willing to change the lease, "I would pay it and be done with it," Dozono said.

Dozono said he would pay any interest or penalties, if the city didn't want to change the lease. He said he has no problems making an $18,000 payment, and could even put it on a business credit card if needed.

Holuka said she understands that construction and the inability to get a long-term lease make running the business hard. But that does not change Bush Garden's responsibility to pay rent as it agreed, she said.

The other tenant in the 10th and Yamhill Garage, The Real Mother Goose, has paid its rent on time, she said. She said the city has several hundred tenants, and perhaps two or three a month don't pay rent. It's more unusual, but not rare, for a renter to miss several payments in a row, she said.

Holuka and her supervisors will decide this week whether to send the case to the city attorney, to seek the money Bush Garden owes.

Dozono said he isn't involved in the daily operation of the restaurant, located at 900 SW Morrison. "I might go there once a month," he said. Over time, Dozono said, he has bought out other investors. Asked how much of the business he now owns, Dozono said, "I think it's 75 percent or so."